DFL VETERANS CAUCUS PRAISES WALZ
We just got this in our email box from DFL Veterans Caucus chair Nancy Gertner:
The
Veterans Caucus of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party would
like to recognize the military service of America's 24.5 million
veterans and congratulate Command Sergeant Major (retired) Tim Walz of
the Minnesota National Guard on his election to the United States
Congress to represent the people of Minnesota's First Congressional
District. Tim is off to Washington for freshman orientation as one of
the new members-elect of the 110th Congress.
Tim
ran a very spirited campaign with young home-grown talent. In his
'victory tour' around the district this week, Tim introduced his staff
that worked behind the scenes to produce a campaign victory. An
instructor at Mankato West High School, Tim hired several former
students for his campaign. West grad Leah Solo was the first campaign
staffer and remained with the campaign for the duration. West grad
Meredith Salsbery served as communications director and arranged media
coverage including several national outlets like the Wall Street
Journal and National Public Radio. Finance Director Jackie Bateman
raised over 1.1 Million, and scheduler Liz Mcloone coordinated Tim's
visits throughout the district with 22 Minnesota counties in between
South Dakota and Wisconsin. Rochester John Marshall grads Chris
Schmitter and Craig McDonnell served as field directors, joining the
campaign after their 2006 graduations from Georgetown and University of
Wisconsin, Madison.
A
gracious winner, Tim Walz acknowledges that 'we' won this election, and
the DFL Veterans Caucus is proud to have been a small part of his
campaign.
Tim
Walz is one of five of the 'Fighting Dems" to be elected from the group
of about 40 military veterans that went to Washington this winter to
kick off their campaigns with former Georgia Senator Max Cleland. Tim
and his fellow veterans of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps helped the
Democrats to win the majority of seats in the House and Senate in the
2006 election. See their profiles at Fighting Dems.
Additional
information is available on Tim's website, www.timwalz.org . . .
Speaker Pelosi blogs (yes, really) at
The Hill's Congress blog about how proud she is of her new Democratic veterans joining her in Washington DC. DNC Chair Howard Dean mentioned Walz in his
Veterans' Day Address:
This Veterans Day comes at the end of an historic
election season. The American people sent a clear message for a new
direction by electing strong Democratic veterans like Jim Webb in
Virginia, Tim Walz in Minnesota, and Admiral Joe Sestak, Patrick Murphy
and Chris Carney in Pennsylvania.
COMING SUNDAY IN THE WINONA DAILY NEWS
While the Twin Cities newspapers and Minnesota Public Radio were still asking political science profs about Gil Gutknecht's perfect hair in early October, local dailies in the Fighting First were hip to the great story developing in their backyards. The Winona Daily News should have a great feature tomorrow:
Coming Sunday: Mr. Walz goes to Washington
Tim Walz beat
six-term incumbent Congressman Gil Gutknecht in Tuesday’s election.
Daily News photographer James A. Bowey documented the frantic final 72
hours of the Mankato geography teacher’s unlikely quest that began two
years ago when officials tried to keep him out of a speech by President
Bush.
We met James Bowey in Rochester a week ago when we went down to liveblog volunteer efforts in Olmsted County. We were impressed: he looked and talked like the Journalist from Central Casting. This article should be a great read.
One of the political scientists consulted made his confession in Thursday's Mankato Free Press:
Joe Kunkel was a late-comer to the group that thought Tim Walz had a strong chance to beat Gil Gutknecht.
A political science professor at Minnesota
State University, Kunkel said the professor in him maintained that the
congressional election system is broken, that incumbents are virtually
unbeatable, that an average person can’t win a federal race in today’s
political reality.
“It was only a third-tier race, I thought,” Kunkel said. “... About two weeks ago, I became a believer.”
And the hair, Joe. Don't forget how impressed you and Minnesota Public Radio were by Gutknecht's smooth personality and hair. Certain radio hosts also liked to talk about hair, too.
WALZ VICTORY LAP NEWS
The Post Bulletin takes a look at Walz's post-election tour through the district in Walz surfs into Rochester during victory lap:
Rep.-elect Tim Walz made his first trip to Rochester after his
stunning upset victory over six-term GOP Rep. Gil Gutknecht, telling a
Rochester crowd that they had created the wave that had carried him to
victory.
"You created the wave. I said our job was to stay on the surfboard
through the whole thing," the newly elected DFL congressman said.
Walz, 42, bounded across the Peace Plaza in downtown Rochester to
greet an estimated 100 supporters gathered outside the Galleria Mall.
Wading into the crowd, Walz turned from one supporter to another,
telling each, "We did it. We did it."
Dressed in jeans and blue sweatshirt, the Mankato high school
teacher and retired National Guardsman spoke like a coach who had
gathered his players together for a half-time pep talk. He said the
victory and its implications had begun to dawn on him the other night
when people began talking to him differently. "I said, 'quit it. You're
creeping me out.'"
Turning his attention to events in Washington, Walz said the impact
of the mid-term elections already was being felt, noting the
resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld two days ago.
"The reality of what happened with Donald Rumsfeld, though, is a
very good sign. President Bush realizes that the world and America here
have shifted. It is a different world today," Walz said. . . .
Mrs. Evil Bobby taped the visit and there's a YouTube video clip here and longer version here.
The Daily Globe noted Walz's intention to open an office in Worthington:
U.S. Rep.-elect Tim Walz breezed through southwest Minnesota Friday on
a “victory tour,” making area stops in Windom, Worthington and Luverne.
During
Walz’s Worthington stop at the Pizza Ranch, the Democrat who unseated
six-term Republican Gil Gutknecht said he planned to make Worthington a
focal point of the 1st District.
“We’re planning on a satellite
office in Worthington,” said Walz, a retired National Guard command
sergeant major and a Mankato West geography teacher. “This at the heart
of our ag base, and this is a growing area. It’s an incredibly diverse
city with great energy and one that’s setting the tone … in America.”
There's a Swift hog slaughtering facility in Worthington which draws workers to the area. The diversity of the new work force is reflected in the public schools, where children speaks dozens of first languages other than English. Gutknecht campaigned on an anti-immigration message, and Tim Walz won Nobles County.
In conservative Brown County, which Gutknecht won, Walz thanked the voters, according to the New Ulm Journal:
Tim Walz, Mankato high school teacher turned congressman-elect as of
Tuesday, brought his “Thank You” tour of the western half of the First
Congressional District to New Ulm Friday morning.
The retired
National Guard command sergeant major, a veteran who felt President
Bush’s handling of the Iraq war wasn’t right, carried the Democratic
banner into battle and defeated Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht in
a campaign that drew a lot of national attention and even more National
Democratic Party campaign dollars.
“They [national press] had
been writing about that for a week. This was a bellwether district. The
common-sense, pragmatic people of southern Minnesota are ones you
should look to on what they’re going to do so I’m honored to be your
representative there,” Walz told a gathering of about 60 in the Grand
Hotel.
“We won, and for that I’m incredibly proud. So, it was
a great day the other night. Electoral politics still works in America.
This is still the best democracy in the world. It doesn’t matter what
you were up against. The people here in this country decided they
wanted to see a change, and each and every one of you did everything
possible to make that change. It wasn’t for yourselves; it was for
those future generations.”
Walz also took some time to visit the high school were he taught, the Strib reports:
He took a break Wednesday afternoon from constant news media
interviews to visit Mankato West High School, where he has long been a
geography teacher and once coached the football team to the state
championship.
"If anyone was going to make it happen, Tim would,"
said Scott Urban, who has taught government and history in the
classroom next to Walz for nine years. "He's the real deal."
Walz
was greeted like a rock star by a room crammed with West students, many
of whom had volunteered for his campaign. "Thank you guys -- we did
it," he told them. "You did it for me in all those parades. When it was
102 [degrees], you were the only ones I could get to do it for me."
Reminded
he was due for an interview on CNN, he glanced at his torn jeans and
University of Minnesota T-shirt. "I guess I'm going to have to change
clothes," he said. "They're all doing that Mr. Smith goes to Washington
thing with me. They think it's cute, I guess. But that's OK."
MARSHALL INDEPENDENT: GWEN WALZ'S ROOTS IN LUVERNE
We didn't have the opportunity to meet Gwen Whipple Walz until Election Day, when we ran into her by happenstance at the doorknock staging area in Mankato. When we introduced ourselves, we discovered that she was a BSP reader.
We were flattered, since her intellect, strong will, and graciousness quickly emerged, bringing to mind a slightly zaftig Sheila Wellstone. The Marshall Independent looks at the local girl who has gone on to be a teacher, activist, and now wife of a United States Representative:
Life for Ivanhoe native Gwen Walz has been changing over the last 22 months, but after Election Day, another change is in store.
Gwen
Walz, wife of Tim Walz of Mankato who was elected this week in
Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District, said the last two years have
been an amazing ride.
Tim Walz, the endorsed Democrat candidate, defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Rochester.
“We’ve
been campaigning for about 22 months for Tim’s seat,” said Gwen Walz.
“The closer the election got, the more people got interested and
engaged in the process. It almost became easier the closer the election
got because people were more interested in the results.”
Gwen
Walz, the daughter of Minneota boys basketball coach Val Whipple, said
she has had a lot of contact with her father throughout the campaign.
Val and his wife, Linn, live in Ivanhoe.
“I’ve talked to my dad
at least once every day. He was helpful, especially on the western side
of the state,” said Gwen Walz. “He contacted people he knew and he
carried signs for us. He is an excellent campaigner.
“We think
he was really important in helping us do so well on the western part of
the state, which Democrats haven’t traditionally done,” she added.
Whipple said he took the opportunity to let people know about what he felt his son-in-law could do for the district.
“I
just called people I knew and traveled down into the Pipestone and
Luverne area, contact people I know and tell them I think my son-in-law
is a wonderful candidate and asked them to consider voting for him,”
said Whipple.
Following the election, Whipple said he was proud to see his son-in-law win.
“I just think it’s extremely exciting and gratifying to see such a talented young man be successful,” said Whipple.
According to Gwen Walz, Whipple has played a large part in both her life and her husband Tim’s.
“Tim’s father died when he was young, right as he was graduating from high school,” said Gwen Walz.
“He’s
the only grandpa and he’s the father figure,” she added. “Talking to
him and trying to make decisions about even how we’re going to manage
next week has been really great.”
While running for public
office might not have been something Tim Walz has planned for a long
time, Whipple said he wasn’t surprised when it was announced he was
running.
“I wasn’t all that surprised,” said Whipple. “I didn’t
expect it but I wasn’t surprised. He likes to meet challenges and my
daughter is the same way. She assists him a great deal and they work
together as a team.”
Gwen Walz’s mom, Linn, said she was excited to see her son-in-law win Tuesday.
“Tim
is a really remarkable guy,” said Linn Whipple. “He can meet anybody
and make them feel like they’ve known each other forever.”
Along with her parents, Gwen Walz said, the whole family has been involved in campaigning for her husbands bid for election.
Support for the Walz campaign came from a number of other sources, including a friend the Walz family got to know well in 2004.
During the 2004 election, Tim and Gwen Walz played host to Elizabeth Edwards, wife of vice presidential hopeful John Edwards.
Gwen Walz traveled with Elizabeth Edwards during part of that campaign.
While Elizabeth Edwards wasn’t able to come out and campaign for Tim Walz, Gwen Walz said her support was still there.
“We’ve been playing telephone tag but I have a great message from her,” said Gwen Walz.
Elizabeth
Edwards recently published a book about her fight with breast cancer.
During a recent trip to Minnesota to promote the book, Elizabeth
Edwards invited Gwen Walz to attend a special lunch.
Gwen Walz said the timing just didn’t work — it was on the due-date of her new-born son Gus.
While
the two were not able to touch base then, Gwen Walz said Elizabeth
Edwards made a point to call and congratulate Tim Walz on election
night.
“She called immediately after the election and she told
us she was proud to know us which is amazing and left all kinds of good
comments,” said Gwen Walz.
“(Elizabeth and I are) both looking
forward to some time where we can both talk and can see each other
because she has accomplished her whole journey through breast cancer,”
she said.
Now that the election is over, Gwen Walz said the phone continues to ring and appointments continue to come up.
With
congressional orientation scheduled for next week, Gwen Walz said they
are getting ready for a trip to Washington this weekend.
“For
me, it’s trying to figure out if we can get everything dry cleaned in
time and packed,” said Gwen Walz. “We have a daughter who is in
kindergarten so we’re trying to coordinate with my parents who are
going to come and stay with her while I’m gone.”
With the
excitement and new schedule, Gwen Walz said she has even asked her
parents to consider moving to Mankato to be closer to her.
“I’ve
asked them if they would consider moving here (to Mankato),” said Gwen
Walz. “But I don’t think they’re ready to leave southwest Minnesota.”
CYBERINDEE: WINONA DFL CHIEF SPEAKS
Rob Thoreson reports for Winona's indie college online paper:
WINONA, Minn., Nov 8, 2006 -- As the hustle and bustle of the election
campaigns faded, Democrats around Winona were all smiles at the
victories of Amy Klochubar, Gene Pelowski, Sharon Ropes and Tim Walz.
"The DFL team and the WSU College Democrats were all wonderful people
to work with during these campaigns." said county Democratic chair Anne
Morse. "I feel we accomplished a lot." Morse said that Democratic
candidates, who will move into control of Congress, benefited from
public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war and from veterans issues. "We
have worked very hard for our veterans and are now coming up on our
third year of the veterans project in which we help Iraq war veterans
at the Minneapolis Veterans Hospital," she said in a post-election
interview. "We had small numbers the first year, but over the past two
years the project has grown so much, and it makes all of us feel good,
like we're accomplishing something positive."
What
about observations that Americans weren't necessarily voting Democratic
but rather just not voting Republican? "There is a measure of truth to
that and people rejecting the status quo," Morse said, "but in reality
we had great candidates like Tim Walz and Amy Klochubar, and I'm
convinced that people went out of their way to vote for these
candidates." What next? "We can't go into hibernation," Morse said. "We
need to keep going."
ROCHESTER POST-BULLETIN: TIM PENNY SPEAKS
We had observed before the election that former Congressman Tim Penny would speak his piece about the Walz-Gutknecht contest in his own independent fashion. Now that Walz has won, Penny compares and contrasts their campaigns in the First via the Rochester paper. It looks like people in the First just like guys named Tim:
By Mike Dougherty
The Post-Bulletin
It was 24 years ago that another Democrat named Tim broke the electoral back of a long-term Republican incumbent.
In
fact, Tim Penny, the Democrat who won the 1st District in 1982, was the
only Democrat to win in the 1st District, in the last century.
Along
with the name, Penny sees a few similarities in the type of campaign he
ran in 1982 and the type of campaign Mankato school teacher Tim Walz
ran this year to defeat Republican six-term U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht of
Rochester.
"I thought Tim Walz was credible and viable when I
met him," Penny said. "I remember our conversations from early and late
spring when he was telling me what Washington was telling him. In the
end, he ran his own campaign, which was about him, not Washington. And
then they came to him on his own terms in the fall when he needed some
assistance to beat back the tons of money that poured in here."
Penny said the key in his race in 1982 was to start early and build a base of support and keep building its layers.
"And
then about six months ago he had pretty much convinced Democrats they
could win, and I don't think they had felt that way for about eight
years," Penny said. "He did the grunt work of getting out in the
district, east to west and energizing supporters."
[snip]
Penny notes that the district is different geographically and some of the political tastes have changed.
Rochester
was still one of the keys. In Penny's time, he managed to carry several
precincts and stayed close in others when he beat Tom Hagedorn, a
Republican who served four terms and found himself in the 1st District
after redistricting.
"But back then, Rochester was much more
monolithic Republican, so you just had to stay close there," Penny
said. "Now there are more potential voters who aren't Republicans and
that creates some new dynamics for candidates."
This time, Gutknecht didn't win any of Rochester's six voting wards.
"I
sensed about six months ago that Rochester was available to Tim, that
the medical and business community was disappointed with Gil," Penny
said. "Tim presented those opinion leaders with a reasonable,
thoughtful candidate."
NETROOTS UPDATE
We've gotten several emails about the joint appearance on Almanac of Minnesota's new representative Tim Walz and Michele Bachmann. Vox Verax reports here, and the contrast is too much for the blog's usual measured civility.
We confess to rarely watching Almanac because its concentrated tincture of conventional wisdom merely makes us sneeze.
There are more reflections on the race over at Vox Verax; we found this post, "Is Jerry McNerney the Tim Walz of California?" to be interesting in its look at environmentalists' support for winning challengers.
We would like to draw readers' attention to Say No to Pombo, another local blog in the spirit of BSP. A little netroots bragging here: Bet on the Netroots. Matt Stoller at MyDD looks at the coalition that elected Walz and others in Fight for More People-Power, Not Better Parking Spots.
Clarification: We've gotten a fair number of emails about our plans to cut back on our posting here at BSP and to broaden our subject matter. By "cutting back", we mean to once or twice a day, rather than the many multiple posts the election cycle dictated.
As for content, it's our blog.
